Hei Tiki • Stylized Figure Pendant

The importance of these silver tiki is taking a traditional Māori design and not producing them in traditional materials of bone, pounamu or wood, but instead creating them in the precious international medium of sterling silver. The idea is to take these Māori-inspired designs to a new audience. Each tiki is individually cast, then each is reworked with carving detail, patina, polishing and pāua inlays. Each silver design is an edition of 10.

Lewis Gardiner is regarded as one of the most innovative and
respected Māori jade artists of his generation. In 1994, he graduated
in Māori Craft and Design at the Waiariki Institute of Technology
in Rotorua. During his final year he was introduced to the valuable
medium of pounamu (jade) and was immediately attracted to its
artistic possibilities. Māori had always valued pounamu for both its
hardness and for its translucent beauty. Lewis was no different — as
he says, “Our tupuna (ancestors) have given us, the Māori people,
the resource and knowledge base to provide a reference for us
and our children for years to come.”